Think About It, Think About It...

When i was in high school i had a Sunday school teacher named Mike Smith who i think about from time to time. He influenced me, and probably many more of my compadres back in the day, more than he ever knew. He was Texas, through and through. still is i imagine. he was a deacon at our church and we always loved it when he prayed. he said the word, "fire" like "fur" and the word, "lord" like "lard". when he would pray "Lard, fill our hearts with your "fur" we would almost lose it, and love it at the same time. he meant it so genuinely.

and he studied the scriptures so intently each week before our lesson. he would read a scripture or lecture us on some point and then he would say, "think about it, think about it." he wanted us to really ponder what he was trying to tell us. and i did. and i still do. but it was these words that stuck with me. i do not read a scripture now, or read a particularly deep paragraph in a book, or story, that i do not hear Mike's words reminding me to stop and really take it all in.

its funny the things that we remember.

i had a friend this week comment on a status post i made on facebook about the sunburn i have gotten as of late. she said that she remembered once i fell asleep on the trampoline in her back yard with my legs crossed and got a very unusual striped sun burn. Ha! so funny.

truth be told she is the younger sister of one my younger sister's friends and i don't remember much time spent with her at all. i would have at least been in ninth grade when this happened and so she would have been in elementary or middle school. im sure i never gave much thought to her remembering me at all.

i joked with her that in the memoirs i write when i am ninety i will probably spin this tale in order to leave the reader pondering the glow that she remembered i always had from the Lord. sounds much better than the truth of a red headed, freckle faced, dreamer who probably never said anything worthwhile or lasting to her.

her father was my driver's ed instructor. i drove endless hours it seems with him and Lara up and down those old Texas high ways. and i have a funny memory of him too. once when we were pulling out of the school parking lot and i was not paying attention to looking back at what was behind me, he said,in true coach's fashion, "always look where you are going, not where you have been." i can't tell you how many times i have remembered that. backing out of parking spaces, driveways, and in my life at certain times. its funny. all the fca lectures, biology lessons, Sunday school classes and sermons on creation i sat through that he taught, and that is the one thing that plays over and over in my mind. it got me through drivers ed and its getting me through life, now, as well.

lately, i have been trying to live life with a little more purpose. i have been trying to "think about it, think about it" a little more.

it has amazed me, (though i know that it shouldn't ) how awesome the Lord is when i stop to see it. really see it. and when i think about how lasting a thing our actions and words are, even the small things...well, its scary really.

wonderful and scary.


i have to tell myself that even Jesus had a hard time being influential on some of the people from His home town. he was remembered as Joseph, the carpenter's son, and so people found it difficult to remember him as much else.

i dont know what else i may have done in high school that was stupid that people remember me for. there is no telling.

i am thankful for katie's good memory though. it made me laugh, made me "think about it, think about it."

but i hope that with a little more intentioned living, i might be remembered for better things in the days to come...